the chemical interactions in plant and animal
cells occur via hydrogen bonds.
Very Weak Bonds Between Nonpolar
Molecules: Fats and Oils A fourth kind of
chemical bond is very weak indeed, between a
hundredth and a ten-thousandth as strong as a
molecule-making covalent bond. These van
der Waals bonds, named after the Dutch
chemist who first described them, are the kind
of flickering electrical attraction that even
nonpolar molecules can feel for each other,
thanks to brief fluctuations in their structures.
Where electrically polar water is held together
as a liquid by hydrogen bonds, nonpolar fat
molecules are held together as a liquid and
given their appealingly thick consistency by
van der Waals bonds. Though these bonds are
indeed weak, their effect can add up to a
significant force: fat molecules are long
chains and include dozens of carbon atoms, so
each fat molecule can interact with many